Deluge is my BFA project at Cornish College of the Arts. As an Afrocentric fashion magazine Deluge looks into culture portrayed through apparel, specifically in Afrocentric cultures, taking a semiotic approach to fashion and culture to create a better understanding of self and community. The project takes the form of a printed magazine. Deluge utilizes graphic design, illustration, and photography to create editorials to express the ideals of the brand.
This issue highlights 5 individuals, through 116 pages, looking at their personal style, taste, interests, and influences in connection to culture; showcasing their individuality through expressive design. The five indivuals Iverson, Angel, Rubina, Isaiah, and Georgina were all photographed and intevewed by myself and that content was used for the magazine.
A key element of Deluge is it’s individual-focused design. Split into five secrions, each one is designed based on the person, looking at thier own influeces, interests, and overall aesthetic qualities; using those elements to influence the design.
The magazine was exhibited at the Cornish College of the Arts design BFA show in 2024.
2024
Photography
Graphic Design
Illustration
View the photos here
View further process here
Photography
Graphic Design
Illustration
View the photos here
View further process here
For Iverson, I looked to the aesthetics of hip- hop, contemporary and otherwise. He had mentioned how 2000's-2010's hip-hop was a big inspiration for his own style so I tried to incorporate that into his spreads. I was inspired by the type of that era and the early digital graphics with all their effects. I created a few headers that tried to achieve this effect, adding a metal texture, metallic stroke, outer glow, and shine to the type. I used the typeface Blonde Fraktur as the base, a heavy black letter face, to evoke 2000's hip-hop. I also used the typeface TeX Grye Heros Condensed for the body text.
For the rest of the visual motifs, I relied a lot on color, using a bright yellow and cyan, to bring a more contemporary feel; a color combo that Iverson was actively wearing.
For Angel, I had to dig a little deeper as she herself is quite the complex individual. I jotted down a few keywords I felt fit her: earthy, grounded, centered, sun, fur, complex. I looked to design that felt less informed by European standards and felt more Afrocentric and grounded; looking at works from Saki Mufundikwa and other designers. I also looked at Angel's paintings, taking inspiration from the motifs she uses in her work such as eyes and bright colors.
I used a light brown for the backdrop of every spread and a darker brown for the type to achieve a more earthy and grounded feeling. I then used a sunflower yellow and cobalt for her various assets, a palette derived from her own work. I used the yellow in various illustrated aspects that conform to the shape of the photo and the blue was used for small stars littered around a few spreads as well as the header type. I also used a bit of brown halftone on some of the photos to create a softer effect.
For Rubina, I wanted to tap into nostalgia and cuteness. And pink. Rubina spoke of her love for nostalgia, for the whole Y2K comeback, and these more fun cutesy aesthetics. So I tried to achieve that through background gradients, photo cutouts, and type with effects. I will admit with Rubina's section being the last I designed, I was a bit fatigued so I tried to achieve my goal in a more simple manner, letting the photo cutouts really do the talking.
I used color as a main motif, combining blue and pink for the type and various gradients. Looking to a lot more Japanese ads and graphics for inspiration to really try to achieve that cuteness.
For Isaish's section, I looked through my conversation with him and derived a few motifs from it. First was the chalk motif, Isaish had made a shirt with such designs as well as verbally saying that he enjoys how chalk looks. He also mentioned flowers multiple times and was wearing a shirt with flowers, so it only felt right. These aspects mixed with his love for pastel colors created this soft, playful, and flowery aesthetic that is displayed throughout his section.
I used the flower motif in a variety of ways. First being very directly with some simple illustrated chalk flowers. I also used photos of flowers I had taken from a few years back as well as using the flower shape as a mask for photos. His signature color for this issue was this lilac shade as well as a peach color, accompanied by a pastel green, red, and yellow for the illustrated flowers.
For Georgina I explored roundness. Circles, halftones, rounded corners, rounded text boxes, etc. Georgina never gave clear motifs through her words so I took a more abstract approach. I landed on the circle as the main motif, it felt correct for Georgina. A sense of wholeness and totality. She also mentioned a love for the artist Solange, who I am also a fan of, and a desire to embody her music. That fact helped a lot in the visual process as well.
For the type, I made virtually every text box rounded and used the typeface Karmina for headers and sub headers. The usage of a rounded serif font felt complimentary to Georgina's vibe. Georgina's signature color for this issue was this mint. Georgina showed a love of green and this color felt like an appropriate shade.